Unai Emery has had his first press conference as the new Arsenal manager.
The manager, who left PSG at the end of the season after winning the domestic treble, made it clear how he felt about taking on Arsene Wenger’s role at the club:
We will create a new present and a new future for Arsenal. I want to say thank you Arsene Wenger for your legacy. For all the coaches in the world, he is a reference. We learned, I learned from him all the things in football,” Emery said at a press conference, choosing to speak in English rather than via a translator.
It’s a big challenge for me, but I have worked also in other projects, big projects. For me, I am proud to be here and to work after Arsene Wenger.
Wenger left the club after 22 years in charge, leaving the door open for a new face to take over at the Emirates.
Emery won the Europa League three years in a row with Sevilla and has ensured Gunners fans that he is here to turn the club back into one of Europe’s elite:
Our objective is to be among the best teams in Europe, to win titles and to be in the elite of European teams. I also want the team to make the fans proud. I know they are already and I want them to be even more so.
The Arsenal Chief Executive was also speaking at the conference and spoke of how Emery was the manager that immediately grabbed their attention when interviewing potential candidates:
We had some clear criteria we were looking for.
We wanted progressive, entertaining football, personality to fit Arsenal values and a reputation for developing players and also, through cultural demands, demanding more from them.
His teams improve over time. We also felt for some time that he is a superb fit with the criteria I laid out. He came in extraordinarily well-prepared with a detailed knowledge of Arsenal Football Club.
Emery’s first test as the new Arsenal boss will come when the Gunners face Atletico Madrid in a friendly in July.
